UNDP paper discusses ‘Decentralization and Women’s Rights to Land’

[adapted from UNDP] May, 2008- This UNDP discussion paper ‘Pro-Poor Land Tenure Reform and Democratic Governance’ provides a review of how different types of land tenure reform relate to decentralization and local governance, in theory and in practice.  The discussion suggests that in order to create more democratic and transparent local management of land resources, special mechanisms to protect women against direct and indirect discrimination, as well as the establishment of local land committees and land tribunals for conflict resolution are needed.

Women should be represented in local bodies involved in land registration to increase the likelihood that they will be able to register their rights.  Yet experience shows that increasing women’s participation is harder to achieve in practice than in theory. 

In Niger, decentralized land commissions seemed to strengthen women’s land rights, but were not enough to offset pressures on the land and the economic marginalization of women in agriculture.  Similarly, in Uganda, provisions for recording third party rights over customary land to ensure women’s, absent persons’ and minors’ rights, as well as provisions for women’s representation on decision making bodies, remain rules on the books, largely not implemented. 

Consequently, the incidence of land conflicts has not reduced, with women and female-headed households particularly affected.  The question of how to provide land registration at the local level that is accessible to the interests of women and the poor and safeguards against elite capture remains unresolved.  Higher costs (and travel time) for registration of land are more likely to exclude women and the poor from registering their plots, with the recognition of secondary rights being of importance for poor and marginalized groups, such as women.  The discussion concludes that local registration processes can help reduce this problem, but only if the local institutions are not biased against women or other disadvantaged groups. 

Through the insistence on inclusion of women, minority ethnic groups, and other marginalized communities (e.g. pastoralists, forest dwellers) in decision-making processes the state has a crucial role to play in fostering inclusive participation for the benefit of all.

To view the report in full, visit http://www.rightsandresources.org/documents/files/doc_827.pdf